Hydropower Energy Collectables: Fill & Download for Free

Wind energy is mostly indirect solar energy driving the air currents by temperature variations, with a component that is from gravitational effects of the planet spinning.Hydropower is the result of rain - and rain is the result of evaporation of water caused by the sun’s energy.So yes both are indirect solar energy.What is and isn’t solar energy is actually terribly important to the future of power generation.If we release at a very high rate the solar energy stored over many millions of years then we heat the planet (fossil fuels).If we release gasses that slow down the transfer of heat energy back to space then we heat the planet (release of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses)If we release the energy formed by the fusion of matter in the cores of stars then we heat the planet (nuclear, fission or even fusion).And for similar reasons if we were to put solar collectors in space and beam the energy collected into the planet then we would heat the planet (so space based solar is not a solution)If we use the energy that is currently flowing through our biosphere in a way that does not accelerate it’s conversion to heat by a large amount then we do not heat the planet (solar, wind, hydro, tidal)

Theoretically, Yes. Practically? Yes. Can we do it tomorrow? No. Can we do it in the next 100 years? Maybe not. Can we do it at all? We definitely are going for it.Humanity used 389 Exajoules of energy in 2013.1 Exajoule is 10^18 joules. As in 1 with 18 zeros behind it. That’s enough energy to charge all the mobiles phones on the planet from 0–100% 1.5 million times! And there are more than 7.2 billion mobiles on this planet as of 2015.But if you think that’s big, oh boy! You’re in for a treat. Do you know how much energy the Earth receives from the Sun every year? 3.85 Yottajoules! Yeah that’s right. A number so big, you haven’t even heard of it. Yotta is 10^24. Or in other words 3.85 million Exajoules, if that helps.So yes the Sun alone could power humanity’s development for a long time. Theoretically.The real science behind why we haven’t all started using solar energy or any other kind of renewable energy for that matter is not entirely science, there’s also logistics involved, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.Setting aside the economics for now. Any type of fuel or ‘energy-giver’ has a thing called its Energy Density. Which is the energy stored within a unit volume or mass of a substance with only the extractable energy being measured.Currently the highest energy density fuels known to man are nuclear materials followed by hydrocarbons. Short from building a nuclear reactor in each and every car petrol, gas. etc are the most efficient fuels we know of.Here’s what the Pedia says about this.Energy density - Wikipedia.See the numbers for nuclear fission in Specific Energy (Wh/Kg) column. Then look what directly beneath those heavy hitters. No not Hydrogen, but Methane. That’s the primary component of natural gas, followed by LNG, LPG, Kerosene, etc. All hydrocarbons. All found in those nasty polluting wells. All helping heat up the Earth.“But, you don’t talk about solar? I don’t see it on the list. This is propaganda!” you say.The thing with sunlight or solar power is that unless you’re a plant or looking for a good tan you can’t use sunlight directly to power something. You need to convert it into some other form of energy before being able to use it. More often than not its electricity. To convert sunlight to electricity you need receptors or photo-voltaic cells that can do such things and banks or batteries that can store the converted electricity.The current efficiency of commercial photo-voltaic cells is 10–15%, circa 2013.[1]That’s why solar powered vehicles look like huge insects with large open surface areas. The conversion efficiency is so low they need that kind of structure to be able charge those batteries. Ah, the batteries. Every tech user’s bane. As anybody with a mobile phone would know, the battery packs are not exactly brimming with advancement. While those stand up guys doing God’s work at Tesla are at the bleeding edge of technology, their recently released battery pack with the highest energy density ever, ever, is 500 Wh/kg (claimed).[2]You see where I am going with this?It’s not because we don’t want to do it or there is a lack of political or industrial will or capital to start moving towards solar and other such methods. Well, there is some hesitance, yeah but that’s a different topic. Its just that we don’t have the technology to do so, yet.That’s why Nuclear Energy is so important. It is ‘renewable’ in the loose sense of the word and highly energy efficient and that’s why countries like China and India are pushing for it so much. That is why France uses it extensively.What about other renewables like hydropower, wind, geothermal etc?Well they were never forgotten. But there is only so many rivers you can dam and turbines you can plant before cities and towns start drowning or fishes and birds start to go extinct. Tidal Energy is another new technology that offers unlimited promise but it is still under development with only a few prototypes in existence and it does come with its own conservation nightmares.Here’s list of countries that are top producers of renewable and what percent of total energy that represents.List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources - WikipediaThose are some big numbers from big countries with big populations. Here’s the European Union’s energy production in percentage. [3]The future looks bright doesn’t it? Renewables rising, solid fuels and petroleum going down. But here’s the catch.See that chart? That’s the breakdown of total energy consumed by the European Union in 2014. The Households and the Industry account for only about 50% of the EU’s energy needs. The biggest consumer by far is the Transport sector and as I said before, aside from putting reactors in every car, hydrocarbons are much more energy efficient.But we do have electric cars now don’t we? Yes we do and they are gorgeous! Ahem, but I digress. See the thing with electricity is that unless you’re in Europe which is still not the best example or other developed parts of the world most of your country’s electricity is produced by thermal power plants that burn coal which is even worse that oil and gas.By using electric cars you are forcing your power grid to produce more electricity and hence burn more coal. So even if you think that you’re Captain Planet as you look with disdain at the SUV that stops next you at a red light in Shanghai, that SUV is actually doing less harm than your Tesla S P100D.To completely stop using hydrocarbons and polluting fuels we all need to be using electric driven vehicles power by clean electricity and right now our best bet is nuclear.There are countries with such ambitions, like Sweden for example, or Costa Rica, or Scotland.[4] Even China and India, but the problem is that the world hasn’t developed uniformly and as long as there are nations that are under developed and have people that are hungry for more, easier routes such as fossil fuels will be used to power that development.It is easy to sit in a chateau in France, or a modern home in Cali or even an upscale apartment in Mumbai and expound the merits of going green but until the world gets together and starts solving problems for everybody instead of just their own community, county or country things wont change fast, and this is where the industrial and political will comes in. You can’t expect developed nations to impose blanket carbon limits on the developing and underdeveloped world without providing technological or financial means to be able to sustain development otherwise. These are the nations most in need of energy.This is why Climate Summits fail.Footnotes[1] The Future of Energy: Why Power Density Matters - The Energy Collective[2] Elon Musk on Tesla/Panasonic’s new 2170 battery cell: ‘highest energy density cell in the world…that is also the cheapest’[3] Consumption of energy[4] Follow the Leader: How 11 Countries Are Shifting to Renewable Energy

Here are a few advantages about offshore windWindmills can be built that are larger and taller than their onshore counterparts, allowing for more energy collection.They tend to be far out at sea, meaning they are much less intrusive to neighbouring countries, allowing for larger farms to be created per square mile.Typically out at sea, there is a much higher wind speed/force allowing for more energy to be generated at a time.Wind farms have a relatively negative impact on the environment. They are not built in shipping lanes, fishing areas or in a delicate environment.There are no physical restrictions such as hills or buildings that could block the wind flow.Wind Power in EuropeAn increasing number of projects are being built and proposed without subsidies.EXCLUSIVE: offshore wind subsidy could be as low as £2/MWhDutch hail second subsidy-free offshore wind tenderSiemens Gamesa in negotiations for first subsidy-free offshore wind farmAlso offshore wind in New England can be cheaper than hydro power from Canada. For instance, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities awarded Vineyard Wind a 20-year contract to provide electricity at 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's about a third the cost of other renewables (such as Canadian hydropower), and it's estimated that ratepayers will save $1.3 billion in energy costs over the life of the deal. Massachusetts approves state's first offshore wind contracts for 800 MWThe intermittency problem is solved by investing in pumped storage hydro and grid scale batteries, plus more investment in weather forecasting and grid balancing. Europe Wind Power ReportAlso operational and maintenance costs continue to fall see Offshore wind analytics to cut opex to less than quarter of costs, so increasing profit margins.